Plotting for a Transformation
by JK rulez
Summary: Slade from Teen Titans has come to Amity Park in search of a new apprentice. And wouldn’t you like to know who he finds? And wouldn’t you also like to know how this person reacts? DS The fic is done!
1. Being Watched

Summary: Slade from Teen Titans has come to Amity Park in search of a new apprentice. And wouldn't you like to know who he finds? And wouldn't you also like to know how this person reacts? DS

_Greetings and salutations, folks! JK rulez here with another fanfic! For a while, I couldn't come up with another idea for a new one, but now I've got something. It's Danny Phantom again, but now I'm throwing in a bit of Teen Titans. Now, bear with me because TT is a show that I've just gotten into about a month or so ago, so I might not be able to do that well with it. It mostly has just Slade; I'll debate on whether or not I'll put the Titans in. This is my second crossover fic, but I feel I may have a more difficult time with this. We'll see._

_And here we go! Chapter 1 is here! I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans._

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter One: Being Watched**

"Take this, ghost snake!" shouted a boy wearing a silver-and-black jumpsuit with a DP emblem on his chest. He wore silver boots, his hair was snow-white, and his eyes were glowing green. He threw a punch and it hit his target.

A long and large ghost snake stood in front of Amity Park's ghost boy with glowing red eyes. It was hit, but not affected very much. The snake opened its large mouth and a red beam fired out of it. The boy projected an ectoplasmic rebounder and it bounced away.

The snake then flew at the boy in an attempt to bite him. He dropped below the snake and it passed over him. He then followed the snake from behind and gave it a powerful kick. It was dead-on and the snake went crashing into a fruit cart.

Danny Phantom, the half-ghost of Amity Park, pulled out his trusty Fenton Thermos and sucked the snake in, "Back to the Ghost Zone, for you, snake boy!"

Danny closed the lid on the thermos, checked that no one was looking, and changed back into Danny Fenton.

Tucker Foley walked up to him and gave him a high-five, "Dude, that was slamming!"

Danny smiled, "It's all part of the job description, Tuck. Kicking butt and taking names."

Samantha (Sam) Manson responded, "Well, currently our butts are supposed to be sitting in a movie theater. Remember? We made plans to see _Alien Zombies from Jupiter_ today before that snake got in the way."

Danny scoffed, "Sam, we got plenty of time."

Sam checked her watch, "It's 3:28. We have two minutes."

"Uh, Sam? Hello? Previews?"

"The movie is scheduled for 3:10, Danny. Previews are probably almost over!"

"What!" Danny and Tucker shouted.

Danny yelled, "Why didn't you say so? Hold on, tight guys!" He grabbed his two friends, turned them and him invisible, and flew off towards the theater.

But as he disappeared, he was unaware that far up on top of one of Amity Park's numerous sky-scrapers, a dark shadowy figure was watching him, one unlike anybody Danny had ever seen before.

Whoever he was, he wore dark clothing with gray patches of armor all over himself. His face was concealed behind a black and orange mask, with only one eye seen on the left orange side.

The figure spoke with a cold and emotionless voice, "Have fun, my dear boy. For in only a matter of time, the _real_ fun begins."

_(He's a Phantom)_

_(Danny Phantom, Phantom, Phantom)_

_**Yo, Danny Phantom, he was just fourteen  
When his parents built a very strange machine  
It was designed to view a world unseen**_

_(He's gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's Danny Phantom)_

_**When it didn't quite work, his folks, they just quit  
But then Danny took a look inside of it  
There was a great big flash, everything just changed  
His molecules got all rearranged**_

_(Phantom, Phantom)_

_**When he first woke up, he realized  
He had snow-white hair and glowing green eyes  
He could walk through walls, disappear and fly  
He was much more unique than the other guys  
And it was then that he knew what he had to do  
He had to stop all the ghosts that were coming through  
He's here to fight for me and you**_

_(He's gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's Danny Phantom)  
(He's gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's Danny Phantom)_

_**Gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's **(whisper) Danny Phantom_

"How awesome was that movie?" Tucker asked as Sam, Danny, and he left the movie theater two hours later.

Sam smiled, "Oh, awesome. But too bad we missed the first five minutes of it."

Danny sighed, "Big deal. What's five minutes? We can see it again."

As the three of them turned to the Nasty Burger for dinner, Danny asked them, "So what do you guys want to do later?"

Tucker checked his PDA and said, "Today's Saturday, Danny. Saturday night's when you've decided you should go on patrol of the city."

"Really?" Danny asked, looking puzzled, "I don't remember going on patrol."

Sam said, "That's because you had a biology project to do last week, and then you had the flu the week before."

"Oh, right!" Danny said, "Now I remember! So, you guys gonna help?"

Tucker smiled, "Totally, dude."

Sam told them as they entered the Nasty Burger, "Tucker, after we eat, you go scan the park. I'll search uptown. Danny, you take downtown."

Danny gave her a quizzical look and asked, "Have you thought this over before?"

"Well, I _am _the organized one of the group."

Danny chuckled, "Only one of your best qualities."

Sam blushed. Danny covered his mouth as he realized what he just said while Tucker wiggled his eyebrows. Danny sputtered, "No, I just meant that…Hey, let's order our food! I'm hungry!"

* * *

A couple hours later, Danny was flying through the air in ghost form, checking for any signs of unusual activity while Tucker and Sam were doing the same on the other sides of Amity Park. 

Danny checked his watch. It read 9:30. He said, "Getting late. Why did I decide this? Spending Saturday night just looking for ghosts instead of playing video games or…"

Danny never finished as the blue wisp escaped his mouth. He said, "Now I remember."

A second later, a large ghostly wooly mammoth burst through the wall of an abandoned warehouse.

Danny shouted at it, "Hey, Wooly! I don't know if you've heard, but your kind died out some 10,000 years ago!"

The mammoth responded by charging at Danny with its sharp tusks. Danny flew up and away from it. He fired a ghost ray at the mammoth, and it struck it on top of its head.

The mammoth turned around and this time fired beams of red light out of its tusks. Danny dodged them and flew down towards the mammoth, firing ghost rays at it. It ran out of the way.

Danny said as he flew down to the ground, "Gee, for a big guy, he sure can run."

The mammoth charged again. Danny saw a cap covering a storm cellar. He took it off and threw it at the mammoth. It struck the mammoth in the face and it was dazed.

Going for the final knockout, Danny flew straight at the mammoth and gave it a hard punch.

_**WHAM!**_

The mammoth went flying backwards, crashing into another wall and staying there.

Wearing a smile on his face, Danny sucked the mammoth into the Fenton Thermos, saying, "Enjoy your new snake friend, pal."

Danny closed the thermos and said, "Well, it should be time to be heading back n…"

Just then, something flew out of nowhere and hit Danny in the head when he wasn't looking. It fell to the ground. Danny looked down at it, holding his head, and saw a silver ball the size of a tennis ball with the letter S on it.

Danny picked the ball up and examined it, "What's this thing?"

He saw a button on it. Curious, Danny pushed it. The ball opened up and formed the shape of a letter. There was writing on it, typed on the computer, Danny saw. He read it out loud.

_Danny,_

_Very impressive, my dear boy. You may be just who I'm looking for. I may know who you are, but you probably are not familiar with me. Sooner than you think, you will have the honor. I'll be in touch until then._

_S_

"S?" Danny asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Who the heck is 'S'"

A computerized voice now came from the ball, "This device will now self-destruct."

Danny quickly threw the ball into the air. It blew to pieces in mid-air with a large _Boom!_

As Danny watched it go off, he said to himself, "Well, whoever he is, I don't think I'll be calling him a friend."

Danny then heard a beeping coming from his watch. He looked at it. It read 10:00. Danny sighed, "Great. Missed curfew again."

With that, Danny flew off into the night, with the mysterious figure from before still watching his every move.

_Well, look at this! What does this guy have in store for Danny? Nothing good, that's for sure. Just so you all know, I may have a hard time thinking of ideas for this without it becoming a copy of another fic, just because I still don't know much about TT yet. I'll try just making it up as I go along; we'll see how it goes. Chapter 2 will be up soon! R/R!_


	2. Under his Skin

_Hello, all! I must say; I was VERY impressed with the review total since yesterday. We shall see if it keeps up. Well…I guess that's all I can say._

_Here we go with Chapter 2! I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans._

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Two: Under his Skin**

"And it says, 'You might be what I'm looking for. I know you, but you don't know me. I'll be in touch. S,'" Danny finished telling Sam and Tucker about what happened to him the next day while they walked through the park.

Tucker said, "Okay, how weird is that?"

Sam asked Danny, "Think it's anybody you might know?"

"Sam, it can't be. That note even said, 'You don't know me.' I have no leads except that S symbol, and since that ball was destroyed, I'm in the dark here."

Tucker asked him, "Do you know what you're gonna do about this, man?"

Danny only shrugged, "I don't have a clue. I don't know who this guy is, where he is, or what he wants with me. Far as I can see, the only thing I can do is go about my business until he eventually contacts me again."

Just then, the wisp of blue escaped Danny's mouth once again. From above them, a large raven glowing black started flying around in the air.

Danny said, "And that business means this. I'm going ghost!" Two rings formed at his waist, and he transformed into Danny Phantom.

Danny flew up at the raven and tried to punch it, but it flew out of the way. It flew at Danny and started pecking him on the head.

"Ow! Ow!" Danny cried as the raven pecked painfully. "Quit it!" As he shouted this, he let off an aural blast _(Like he did to Spectra in "My Brother's Keeper") _and the raven was blown backwards.

The raven cawed and a beam of black energy shot out of its beak. Danny dodged the beam and fired a ghost ray at it. The raven was hit and knocked backward.

Not to be outdone, the raven flew at Danny. He tried to fire another ghost ray at it, but it flew fast out of the way. It then started flying circles around Danny, picking up more and more speed as it flew.

Danny tried desperately to follow the path of the raven, but it was impossible as the raven was flying so fast now. He tried to fire ghost rays at it, but they kept missing.

Danny said to himself, "It's flying too fast for me to see. I have to try listening."

Danny took a deep breath and listened closely. He listened, with his ears trying to match the flight pattern of the raven…

Without warning, he turned around and fired a ghost ray. A loud and painful caw was then heard as the raven was hit and knocked down to the ground and crashed into a mailbox.

Without a word, Danny flew down to the raven and sucked it into the Fenton Thermos.

Tucker and Sam went up to Danny as he changed back into Danny Fenton, with Tucker exclaiming, "Slamming job, dude."

Danny responded as they started walking down the street, "Thanks. But I've been having to fight quite a lot of ghosts these last couple of days. It should be tiring me out. But…it's not."

Sam retorted, "It's not? What do you mean, 'It's not'?"

Danny answered back, "What do you mean, 'What do you mean, "It's not?"'? I'm not getting tired out. What else could I mean?"

Sam scowled, while Tucker asked him, "Not tired at all?"

"Not really. Normally by now, I would be tired from fighting so many and would be more than willing to take a break."

Sam tried to explain, "Maybe you've had these powers for so long, you're building up more endurance. As in, you're able to go a lot longer without getting tired. I wouldn't be surprised, Danny. You have learned how to duplicate to two."

"It's probably something like th…" Danny was interrupted as they heard a loud _Bang!_ It came from above them. Something dropped down and landed at their feet. It was rectangular shape and had the letter S on the side of it.

Danny examined it and said, "This is the same S as what was on that ball yesterday."

Tucker asked him, "What is it?"

Sam pointed out, "Look, there's a button on it."

Curious as he was last night, Danny pushed the button. After he did, a cold, emotionless voice came out of the device, "Greetings, Danny Fenton, or should I say, Danny Phantom?"

The three of them exchanged fearful looks. Danny whispered, "This guy knows my secret!"

The voice from the tape recorder went on, "You must wonder of this random message and yesterday's random letter. You shall soon receive your explanation, but for now, my identity will still remain a deep secret to you. I must only say that I am very impressed with your technique, skill, and new-found endurance. It will soon be put to a more…profitable use. Good day to you."

At that moment, the recorder blew to pieces and only a few pieces of metal and circuits stood in its place.

Sam said, "Okay, major weirdness."

Tucker asked Danny, "Who is this guy?"

Danny slowly shook his head and spoke in a rather creeped out voice, "I have no idea, and I really don't think I want to know."

* * *

Later that afternoon, our favorite trio was taking a walk through Amity Park for no real reason at all. 

Noticing Danny, Sam asked him, "Danny, you alright? You've been awfully quiet today."

"Huh?" Danny went, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine." He scratched the back of his head nervously and said, "Everything's okay."

Tucker and Sam looked at each other and then at Danny. They stopped walking.

Danny said, "What's up?"

Tucker replied, "Dude, you did the 'scratch the back of your head' thing."

"So?"

Sam sighed, "Danny, you only do that when something's on your mind. You've done that ever since we were nine."

"Really? I've done that before? Hmm. Guess I've never noticed."

Tucker asked him, "What's the problem, man?"

Danny sighed, "I don't know. I guess I just feel a little stressed from that message this morning. Here's a guy I've never met, whom I've never even seen yet, and he's already sent chills up my spine. _And_ he knows I'm half ghost!"

Sam responded, "Good point. That voice of his sounds icy as a snowstorm in Norway."

Just then, they heard a crash. They looked ahead of them and saw that Axiom Labs was about two hundred yards ahead of them. There was currently smoke rising from it.

Sam cried, "Look! Trouble!"

The three of them hurried towards the building, wondering what the commotion would be.

Danny said to Tucker, "Tuck, hack into the security camera and see what's going on."

"Can do," Tucker responded. He did some typing on his PDA, but then a buzzer went off. Tucker gasped, "Oh, no! My PDA's been infected with a virus! I can't hack into the camera!"

"Then I guess I'll just have to get an even closer look at the action." He transformed into Danny Phantom and said, "Stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Leaving his friends behind, Danny flew to the building and phased inside.

_Kind of a short chapter, I know, but here, I'm still trying to build up the plot. Looks like this new guy has already gotten under Danny's skin, but who has broken into Axiom Labs? And will this guy meet Danny soon? Find out in Chapter 3! R/R!_


	3. Giving Chase

_Greetings, people! Hey, what happened? First day this was up, I got nine reviews. Since Chapter 2 went up, it's only been three. But I guess I understand, since Chapter 2 wasn't that good. Promise this will be better!_

_Chapter 3 is here! Check it out!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Three: Giving Chase**

Danny phased into the Axiom Labs building, this time invisible. He had gotten caught breaking in as Danny Phantom before, and he didn't want to risk it happening again.

Flying carefully and watching closely for anything out of the ordinary, Danny finally saw a small explosion somewhere by a bunch of computer stuff. He looked and saw a masked figure by it, holding a computer disk.

Turning himself visible, Danny shouted, "Hey!"

The figure turned to him, and just as soon as Danny saw him, he had run off.

"Come back here!" Danny yelled as he tore off after him.

Danny flew out into the next hall and looked both ways. On his right, he saw a shadow disappearing around the corner. Danny followed it around the corner and down another hallway, which led to a dead end.

The figure stopped at the end of the hall, with Danny approaching him.

Danny smirked with the figure currently encased in a shadow, "No way out, creepy. How about you just hand over that whatever-it-is and we can call it a day?"

The figure simply jumped onto a wall, which stretched far up to a window on the ceiling, which had a hole in it. He jumped off the wall and pushed himself off onto a higher part of the wall, and kept going.

Danny sighed, "They always want to do it the hard way." Grunting, he fired multiple ghost rays at the figure, but he kept jumping around them and Danny wasn't able to hit his target. Finally Danny flew up after him just as he escaped through the window.

Danny went outside through the window as well, where darkness was settling in, and saw that the man had jumped down to one of the lower roofs of the building and then jumped onto the ground.

Looking puzzled, Danny spoke out loud, "Whoever this guy is, he's definitely daring." He then flew off after him.

Seeing Danny run after the mysterious man, Tucker shouted, "Danny! Who is that?"

Still flying, Danny yelled back, "I don't know! Catch up with you guys later!"

Danny kept an eye out for this guy as the chase stretched beyond the boundaries of Axiom Labs and into the downtown section of Amity Park.

As he flew, Danny saw the man run into an alley. Danny followed him in, with the shadows engulfing him.

"Hey!" Danny cried, "Where are you?"

No answer. Danny flew up until it wasn't so dark and looked around. There was no one in sight.

Danny said to himself, "My ghost sense isn't going off, so this guy can't even be a ghost."

Just then, a rock dropped on top of Danny. Danny looked up and saw someone jump from one building to another.

Danny smiled and flew up higher to the roof, where he caught sight of the man again and once again flew after him. The figure continued to flee, this time jumping across the tall buildings of Amity Park.

As he continued to fly after him, Danny was quite surprised to see that the man he was chasing didn't seem to be tiring out at all. He had strong, powerful, fast legs and he moved with great agility. He was pacing himself very nicely.

Danny, however, was always prone to flying after his foes at a fast pace in hopes of ending the trouble as soon as he could. He had tried doing the same tactic this time, and as a result, he was starting to tire out just a bit. But the endurance he had built up from his months of ghost fighting was showing, and he kept flying.

* * *

"Where could he be?" Sam asked Tucker, looking worried as they ran throughout Amity Park, searching for Danny and whoever he was in pursuit of. 

"I don't know!" Tucker answered, "Normally, I could track him by making my PDA a GPS, but everything's still shut down from this virus."

"Who was that guy he was chasing?"

"Beats me. Whoever he was, I don't think he was a ghost."

"Yeah." The two of them turned in the direction of the Nasty Burger.

Tucker said to her, "Well, he couldn't have gotten too far. We can find…"

Just then, the two of them heard a blast come from above them. They looked up and saw the figure leaping through the air onto a building. From behind him, they saw Danny firing a ghost ray, missing unfortunately.

Sam commanded, "Come on." The two of them ran off.

* * *

Some time later, Danny was really beginning to tire out as they neared Danny's own house, now down on the street. He checked his watch. It said 7:45. Danny couldn't believe it. It had been 6:50 when he first left the building! 

Unbelievably, the figure he was chasing still didn't seem tired at all.

Danny growled, "If I'm gonna end this, it better be now." He then fired a heavy barrage of ghost rays, hoping at least one of them would strike the man.

Finally, one managed to nick him, and he went crashing to the ground near an open man-hole.

Danny grunted as he floated above the man, "You've gotten me very frustrated from having to chase you for the last hour. Now hand over that device!"

The figure still did not speak and jumped down the man-hole and into the sewer.

Now groaning, Danny flew down into the sewer. Once he reached the bottom, he saw that he was on a pathway that stretched down the sewer, with a river of waste beside the path.

More importantly, the man had now come to a stop approximately one hundred feet away from Danny, facing away from him.

Danny looked at him and said, "So what? Are you giving up? Gonna hand that thing over?"

The man turned towards Danny, who noticed that he wore dark clothing with gray patches of armor all over himself. His face was concealed behind a black and orange mask, with only one eye seen on the left orange side.

The figure finally spoke, holding the disk up, and with a very cold voice, "This? This 'thing' as you so crudely put it happens to be a very important disk developed for the CIA. It can store a nearly infinite amount of information, and is impossible for anyone to hack into, and that includes your little friend."

Recognizing the voice, Danny said to him, "Hey, you're the guy who left me that note yesterday. And who sent me a tape recorder this morning!"

"So you recognize my voice. Very good. I trust you don't know me."

"Never seen you before. Anyway, why did you steal that disk?"

"So I could do this." Then before Danny could respond, he greatly tightened his grip on the disk and it disintegrated right in his hand, while Danny simply watched in awe.

Danny scratched his head, "Okay, what did you do that for?"

"My dear boy," the man said as he dropped the pieces to the ground, "That disk may be useful for gathering information, but what I want is something worth so much more."

"So you came down to a filthy sewer to get it?"

"I didn't come to _get_ it in the sewer, young man. I came to _trap_ it." Then he pulled out a remote and pushed a button.

In an instant, the man-holes above them slammed shut and the top and bottom of the sewer began to glow green.

Danny gasped, while the man said, "Like it? Ectoplasmic coating. Any thoughts you had of phasing through the top of this sewer are now virtually worthless."

Danny didn't like this at all. There was something he found very confusing and very puzzling about this guy that gave him a cold feeling in his stomach.

Danny threw his arms out in exasperation, "Alright, could you stop beating around the bush? What is it that you want?"

The man stepped towards Danny and said, "Quite simple, Danny. I want you."

_And the plot develops! This guy has Danny cornered in a sewer, but what is his actual intention? Does he want Danny dead, or does he have other plans in store for our favorite ghost boy? Find out in Chapter 4!_


	4. Hero vs Villain

_Hi, folks! Back again with a brand new chapter! I found some spare time, so I was able to put this together. Thanks for the reviews, but I really wish I had more. I'm getting quite a lot of hits, but please review after reading._

_Chapter 4 is now here! I have decided to bump the rating up to "T."_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Four: Hero vs. Villain**

Looking quite perplexed, Danny retorted, "What do you mean you want me? Who are you?"

The man answered, "I am known as Slade." Then before Danny could respond, his right fist shot out and connected with Danny's right jaw, knocking the ghost boy down.

Danny staggered to his feet, "Slade? What kind of name is Slade?"

"Think what you want about my name, my dear boy. But you will learn to call me 'Master.'"

Danny growled back, "In your dreams!" He fired a ghost ray at Slade, but he calmly stepped aside and the blast zoomed by him farther down the sewer line.

Slade said to Danny, "Power…I like that. And aggression, I like that too."

Growling, Danny flew at Slade in an attempt to punch him. But Slade's own arm shot out again and grabbed hold of Danny's fist. He then started to push it back, as Danny screamed in pain.

Slade finally flipped Danny over, slamming him onto the ground.

Danny moaned in pain and struggled to get up. His right fist ached greatly and he tried to shake it off.

Watching Danny as he got back on his feet, Slade said to him, "But you lack patience, my dear boy. You lack focus, you lack discipline. But you have a lot of potential. I can work with that."

Danny was growing to fear this guy more and more by the second. He couldn't remember anybody giving him chills like this. Not even his own arch enemy, Vlad Plasmius, gave him this much fear inside him. Dan Phantom, maybe.

Unable to think of much else, Danny fired a ghost ray at Slade, and then another. Slade calmly dodged them both and tried to punch Danny. This time, Danny reacted in time and gave him a leg sweep, tripping him up and knocking him over.

Slade looked up from the ground and saw Danny attempting to deliver a punch at his face, this time with his left fist. Again he shot his arm out like a bullet and grabbed hold of Danny's fist, and then bent it violently backward, leaving Danny once again screaming out loud in pain.

Slade then let go of Danny's hand, leaving Danny falling to his knees with terrible pain in both his hands as they were both now bleeding.

Between gasps, Danny asked Slade, "What…do you want…with me?"

"Simple, Daniel. While I'm not entirely sure if I'll do this, I want to make you…"

Before Slade could finish his sentence, there was a huge crash and a large flying vehicle burst in through one of the sewer holes! Two figures sat inside the vehicle, scowling.

Danny turned around and gasped, "Tucker! Sam!"

Sure enough, Danny's two best friends were riding the Specter Speeder.

Tucker shouted to his friend, "Danny, get in!"

Danny tried to get himself over to the Speeder, but he collapsed back to his knees in intense pain.

"Danny!" Sam cried as she hurried out of the Speeder and over to Danny, but Slade's voice rang out, "Not so fast, young lady."

Slade threw a round device in Sam's direction. It hit the ground in front of her and a small explosion went off. Sam ducked out of the way to avoid being hit.

Slade smirked behind his mask, "Well, well, well. You two must be Tucker and Sam. Danny's dear friends. How sweet."

From inside the Specter Speeder, Tucker roared at Slade, "You get away from our friend, you creep!" A laser fired out from the Specter Speeder at Slade, but he jumped away from it.

Slade responded to Tucker, "Only because I've done what I needed as of now, I will follow your orders." He then turned to Danny and said coldly, "Don't get comfortable, Danny. I _will_ be back."

Before the trio could respond, he threw four small marbles onto the ground. They blew apart and thick smoke filled the area. Danny and Sam both coughed, while Tucker didn't need to, the Specter Speeder shielding him from the smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Danny looked around, and saw that Slade had vanished without a trace.

He groaned and changed back into Danny Fenton, still sitting on the ground in pain.

"Danny!" Sam cried as she hurried to his side, holding onto the back of his head.

"Are you okay?" the Goth girl asked the ghost boy.

Danny replied, "Pretty banged up, and both my hands may be broken, but I'm fine."

"Come on," Sam said as she managed to lift him up, throw him onto her shoulders, and carry him back to the Specter Speeder.

* * *

"He'll have to stay the night," a doctor said to Tucker and Sam out in the waiting room of Amity Park Hospital. 

Sam asked him, "Are you sure he has to, Dr. Ward?"

"Yes, I'm afraid." Dr. Ward checked a clipboard he held in his hand and said, "Both of his hands have been sprained badly, he has small damage to his right side jaw, and a few bruises around his rib cage."

Sam sighed, while Tucker hung his head.

Dr. Ward asked the two of them, "How did he get into this kind of shape?"

Tucker tried to say something, "Well, he…uh…"

Sam finally spoke up, "Some thug cornered him in an alley and beat him up."

"He must have been pretty big and strong," the doctor responded, "Do you know who it was?"

"No. We didn't see him. It was dark and we didn't recognize who it was."

"I see. Alright, then." He turned to leave.

Tucker said to him, "Wait, wait. Can we see him?"

"Not right now. We have given him sleeping pills to help ease his pain. He should sleep the rest of the night. You may see him tomorrow. Good night to both of you."

Sam sighed, "Okay. Thank you, Dr. Ward."

The doctor smiled and walked out into the hall. Without another word, Tucker and Sam turned and left the hospital.

* * *

Since the next day was a Monday and they had school, Tucker and Sam couldn't get to see Danny until that afternoon. They found Danny in his room, sitting in his bed and reading a magazine. He had casts on both of his hands, so it was a bit difficult. 

"Danny!" Sam cried in joy as she ran over and hugged him.

"Ow! Ow!" Danny gasped in pain, "Sam, that hurts!"

"Oh, gosh! Sorry!" Sam quickly jumped back and frowned apologetically, "Sorry, Danny."

Danny put one hand up, "Oh, it's alright."

Tucker asked his injured friend, "So how long do you have to stay here for, dude?"

Danny answered, "They told me I should be able to leave by the end of the week, and then check back a couple weeks after."

Sam asked him, "Danny…who _was_ that guy? Last night. Down in the sewer."

Danny shrugged, "He just told me his name was Slade. And he said he…wanted me."

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean he wanted you?"

"I…don't know. He didn't tell me directly. He said that he liked that I had power and that I had aggression, and had a lot of potential. But he also said that I lacked patience, focus, and discipline. But he said that he could…work with that."

Sam and Tucker exchanged puzzled looks. Sam asked Danny, "What did he mean by that?"

"I have no idea. But there was something else. He said that…I would learn to call him…'Master'."

Sam bit her lip, "This sounds bad. Tuck, can you run a web search for this 'Slade' on your PDA?"

Tucker held up his PDA and answered, "I would, but it's still shut down from that virus. And I bet that Slade guy sent it."

"We'll just have to check it out online when we get home," Sam said. Noticing that Danny was simply staring down into his bed sheets, she said to him, "Danny."

Danny looked up, "Huh?"

"Are you okay? I'm worried about you."

Danny blushed, "I appreciate your concern, Sam, but I'm fine. You should go home. Don't you have homework to do?"

Sam's face lit up, "Oh, yeah! That reminds me!" She reached into her backpack and dropped a pair of books onto Danny's lap.

Sam grinned and walked out with Tucker, who said, "Thank goodness we're leaving. I still hate hospitals." Sam called back to Danny, "Have fun!"

Danny pouted and grumbled to himself, "I just had to open my big mouth."

_That's all for now! Oooh, only one encounter with Slade, and it's already landed Danny in the hospital! How is Danny truly reeling from last night's battle with him? And when will they meet again? Let us wait until Chapter 5!_


	5. A Second Beating and the Aftermath

_Hello again, all! Back with another update! This time, I was pretty much pleased with the amount of reviews I received, but I'm still a bit puzzled why they weren't coming in left and right like they were following Chapter 1. Ah, well._

_Here we go with Chapter 5! I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans._

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Five: A Second Beating and the Aftermath**

Over the next few days, Danny did nothing but just sit in his room and wait for his injuries to heal. He didn't want to talk to anybody, not even when Sam and Tucker stopped by once a day. They would only exchange a few words before they left.

Danny knew he had blown it big time in his battle with Slade on Sunday night. Sure, he had faced very worthy adversaries before like Skulker, Ember, Vlad, etc. But they were ghosts. Slade was a human. A human, more importantly, without actual ghost hunting weapons.

And he had pounded Danny to dust. To the point where Danny was where he is now, in a hospital.

Danny sighed as he sat in his bedroom that Thursday night. The doctors said that he could go home tomorrow evening.

He thought to himself, _He never wanted that disc. All he wanted was me. It was all a trap. The robbery, the chase, stopping right in a sewer, he was trying to lure me to him, he was tiring me out with the chase, and he was leading me into a place where seemingly nobody could help out. Thank God that Sam and Tuck showed up or I would've been toast._

Although Danny had gotten away from Slade then, he knew that it wouldn't be the last he would see of him. And nagging in the back of his mind was one question: What did Slade want with him?

* * *

"Do you feel any better?" Tucker asked Danny on a cool Friday night as they stepped out of the hospital. He looked back at the building and shivered, "Because now I do after leaving that place." 

Danny answered, "Yeah. My hands still twinge a bit when I grab hold of something, but just a bit."

Sam asked the two of them, "So what do you guys want to do? We still have four hours of Friday left."

Tucker yelled, "Ooh! I say we catch the new action movie _Mutant Vultures from the Bermuda Triangle._ It just opened today."

Sam chuckled excitedly, "Oh, I'm all for that! Danny, you in?"

Danny responded in kind of a non-enthusiastic way, "Oh, uh, no. I don't think so."

Tucker asked him, "Dude, are you sure you're okay?"

Sam then said, "Yeah, you've seemed a little off ever since you got in that hospital."

Danny sighed, "Sam, I've been injured. What do you expect?"

Sam gave Danny a _I know you're not telling the truth_ look and said, "Danny, I know you better than anybody I know. This is not about your injuries and you know it. Spill."

Danny replied, "Look, could we just…talk about this at home?"

Sam sighed, "Fine. We'll head to your house and talk about it there."

* * *

"Alright, Danny," Tucker said to his friend as they sat in Danny's bedroom, "What's this all about? Why have you been acting all gloomy?" 

"Yeah," Sam added, "You haven't been this down since the Spectra incident."

Danny said, "Okay, you want to know what's been bothering me? It's Slade. He's been on my mind all week, and I can't get him off it."

Sam and Tucker exchanged looks. Tucker asked him, "Why is he on your mind exactly? I mean, I know he beat you up pretty bad, but hey, it could've been worse."

"It goes beyond that, Tuck. He put me in a hospital! No other battle I have _ever_ been in has put me in a hospital before. And it's also in terms of exactly _how_ he beat me. I attacked him so stupidly! This is a guy I have never heard of, and I just jump straight into it with no real plan of attack!" He said all of this very fast.

Sam shook Danny's shoulders, "Danny, whoa! Just calm down a little bit! You're getting ahead of yourself!"

Danny calmed down just a bit and went on, "Plus, he's not even a ghost. And he doesn't even have any ghost hunting weapons like Valerie or my folks. All he used was his own strength, and I get pounded.

"He set me up to battle me down in that sewer, guys. And I fell right into his trap. I was lucky to make it out of there. I owe you guys for that."

Sam said, "That's because we're your friends, Danny. We've always got your back. Through the best of times and the worst of times."

Tucker added, "We're here for you, Danny."

Danny smiled from ear to ear, "What did I ever do to deserve great friends like you?" Then the trio engaged in a three-person hug.

"How touching," a cold voice said from behind them.

Danny spun around, "No."

Sure enough, perched on a branch just outside his bedroom window, was Slade. He sneered, "Hello, Danny. How nice to see you again. Missed me while you were in that hospital?"

Danny didn't answer. He just transformed with an extra furious scowl into Danny Phantom.

Slade said, "You tend to hold grudges, my dear boy. I'm impressed by that as well."

Danny answered back as he phased through the window and outside, "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play with me, Slade, but you're not gonna win!" He fired a powerful ghost ray at Slade, but he jumped from the branch he was crouched down on and up onto a higher branch, a branch that was hidden by the leaves.

"Where are you?" Danny called out, "Come on out and fight!"

No answer came, so Danny started firing multiple ghost rays up into the higher branches of the tree, hoping that at least one of them would connect with Slade.

"Reckless behavior, Danny," Slade's voice rang out, even though Danny still couldn't see him in the trees, "Someone else could get hurt from your fighting techniques. Excellent."

Danny growled, "See how excellent this is!" He then fired a ghost ray at the tree trunk. It made a large hole in it. Danny then kicked away the parts that were still there, and the tree trunk broke in half.

The top half of the tree began to fall. Luckily, it avoided Fenton Works and dropped the other way, out onto the street, snarling traffic on it.

"Yeah!" Danny shouted with a big smile, "How do you like that one, Slade?"

No answer.

Danny's smile faded and he said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Just then, he felt a strong kick come at him from behind. Slade had jumped onto the op-center of Fenton Works before the tree fell and had now jumped at Danny. Danny was thrown forward by the force of the kick and he landed on the ground hard.

Slade dropped onto the street a short distance from Danny. He surveyed Danny lying on the ground as he got back up.

He said to the ghost boy, "Come on now, Danny. You'll have to do better than that. Don't tell me you're already tired."

Scowling, Danny phased through the ground and out of sight.

"Running away now, are we, Danny?" Slade called out, "How typical."

Danny phased back into sight behind Slade and tried to deliver a punch to the back of his head. But quick as lightning, Slade spun around and grabbed hold of Danny's hand. Instead of pushing it back like on Sunday, he twisted his arm around in an unnatural position. Danny screamed in pain, "Ow! My arm doesn't bend that way!"

Slade dropped Danny and said to him, "Why, Danny, that last attack of yours was despicable, vicious, and even quite evil. Very nice. But then, you know it's in you, young man. You know the evil that lurks somewhere inside you. You've seen it."

Danny rolled over and got back on his feet, his body bruised and his arm throbbing with pain. He panted, "How do you know about that? How do you know all of these things about me? What do you want with me?"

"Patience, my boy. You'll find out. I've done what I need for now. Good night."

And before Danny could even blink, Slade delivered a massive right hook straight to his face, knocking him down. Danny's world went black as he watched Slade disappear from sight.

* * *

"Danny? Danny? Please wake up." Sam's voice echoed throughout Danny's mind. 

Danny slowly opened his eyes.

"Danny!" Sam cried as she hugged him. Danny blushed but accepted it.

Danny looked around after Sam stepped back and saw that he was back in his bedroom, lying in his bed. Sam and Tucker stood on the left and right sides, both looking shaken, but still glad to see that he was awake.

Danny rubbed his eye and asked, "How long have I been out of it?"

Tucker responded, "Oh, man. It's been three days!"

Danny narrowed his eyes, "Tucker, seriously, how long?"

Sam said to him, "It's only been four hours."

"Oh, geez. It's late. You guys should probably get going."

Tucker replied, "No. We called our folks and we're staying here tonight."

"That's really not…"

Sam interrupted, "Do you want to be by yourself looking like this?" She took a handheld mirror off Danny's desk and showed it to him. Danny grimaced. His nose was covered in dried blood, he had bruises over a mass portion of his body, and a few cuts were on his face as well as his arms and chest.

Danny shoved the mirror away and chuckled, "I look like an extra in a horror movie."

"Come on," Tucker said with a yawn, "We should probably go to sleep."

Within five minutes, the three of them were in their pajamas. Danny slept in his bed while Sam and Tucker slept on the floor on opposite sides of the room.

Tucker and Sam drifted off to sleep in five minutes' time. Danny, however, kept his eyes open and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

_That's twice this guy's totally slaughtered me,_ Danny thought, _Why can't I beat him? And how did he know about me meeting my future evil self? Is this guy psychic or something? He's psychotic, that's for sure._

Although he wouldn't admit it, Danny was now starting to grow a dread for Slade. It was one he had never felt towards Vlad. He always thought Vlad as clever, powerful, dangerous, and tricky, but he was still cocky, arrogant, and over-confident, which normally served as his weaknesses.

Slade, however, was none of those. He was patient, cynical, fast, and unusually nerve-wracking.

The thoughts of his two disastrous battles with Slade, what Slade was really planning, and when they might possibly meet next danced around in Danny's mind, and the night stretched into the early morning before he finally drifted off to sleep.

_Hmm. It seems like now Slade is really starting to fiddle around with Danny's mind. But what exactly is he planning? How much more of a beating can Danny take? How can Danny match up to him? Why am I asking you all these questions? Anyway, these questions will be answered soon enough. But for now, wait for Chapter 6! Coming soon!_


	6. A Volcanic Threat

_Hi, people! Back again with an update! I was very pleased with the amount of reviews I got this time around, but I've been a little busy since yesterday and have had a cold which explains the longer-than-what-should've-been wait. Also, I understand that I'm not having Danny trying to phase through Slade or any things like that. Just be patient. I'll find a way to work with that._

_Let's get back to it! Chapter 6 is now here!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Six: A Volcanic Threat**

One good thing about Danny getting banged up over the last week was that he got extra time to rest. A few ghosts appeared over that weekend, but they were very minor ghosts and Sam and Tucker were able to take care of them by themselves. Danny offered to help, but they point-blank refused with him in his current condition.

"If they're ghosts that aren't really a threat," Sam said to Danny that cloudy Sunday afternoon as they walked through Amity Park, "Then there's no reason for you to be wearing yourself out even more fighting them."

Danny sighed, "I guess I've just had these powers for so long, it's starting to get a little off-rhythm to _not_ use them. Hey, have you guys been able to find any info on this Slade guy yet?"

Tucker answered, "We've run a full-scale web search, but it's turned up _nada._ I was finally able to override the virus on my PDA last night, but we still came up empty."

Sam asked the ghost boy, "What do you plan to do when you next encounter him?"

"Be smarter," Danny replied, "That's all I can really say. Both times I've fought him, my attack plan was way off and I was totally reckless."

Tucker said to him, "You were probably just a little rattled from the stuff he said to you."

Sam agreed, "Yeah. I think the smartest thing for you to do would be just to focus."

Danny said, "And I'll have to stay on my guard. I have no idea when he's gonna come after me next, but when he does, I _will_ be ready." His voice was icy cold as he added, "Count on it."

* * *

There was a definite feeling of uneasiness in the air that cold misty night as the trio sat on a bench in the park. Just recently, Sunday night had been declared "Movies in the Park Night". Each Sunday night, a movie would be played on a large screen so everyone could see. The three of them had agreed to go tonight in order to relax and unwind. 

Danny, however, paid virtually no interest to the movie, which was one he had seen before anyway. Try as he might, he just couldn't get the masked man Slade out of his head.

"_But then, you know it's in you, young man. You know the evil that lurks somewhere inside you. You've seen it."_ Those were the words of Slade that Danny thought about much more than any other.

Danny knew that there was a trace of evil inside of him. He had always known that ever since his travel through time and his encounter with his future self. But he also knew that every day, every time he helped someone in need, every time he stopped someone who was bent on one certain nefarious scheme or another, he had controlled that evil. And yet…

"_Why, Danny, that last attack of yours was despicable, vicious, and even quite evil. Very nice."_

But that was different. He was fighting to defend himself. Or did it go beyond that? Was it to the point where Danny was so content on getting rid of Slade that he would start attacking the very second he saw him?

There was something else that bothered Danny very much, although not as much as Slade's remarks about the evil within him. It was Danny's own fear.

There was no question that Slade was a terrific fighter. Tactical, patient, methodical, dangerous, cryptic, and cunning. And that made him able to see underneath a brave and strong ghost boy and instead see the weak and shy Danny Fenton. That thought sent chills all throughout Danny's body.

"Danny?" Sam interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Danny said.

"The movie's been over for half an hour and it's almost 10:00. We got to get home."

* * *

The next day, after school, the trio was sitting in Danny's living room, doing their homework. But fifteen minutes into starting on it, Sam and Tucker noticed that Danny wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his homework. He seemed far too caught up in his own thoughts. 

Tucker sighed, "Danny, you _do_ know that this English report for Lancer is due tomorrow, right?"

Danny muttered, "Oh, um, yeah. Pizza for lunch tomorrow."

Sam groaned, "For Pete's sake, Danny, you can't still be thinking about Slade, can you? Ever since that first fight, can't you even think about anything else?"

Danny scowled, "Well, I'm right now thinking about how much you're annoying me!"

Sam shouted back, "Well, you don't have to get…"

Just then, Tucker took a look at his PDA. It had suddenly been hit with static.

"Hey!" Tucker cried, looking at his PDA with a puzzled look on his face, "What's going on?"

After a few seconds, a figure began to take shape in the wavy static lines. Danny knew that figure all too well.

Danny hissed, "Speak of the devil."

"Hello, Danny," Slade responded, "So nice to see you again. Hope I didn't call at a bad time."

Tucker answered, "Well, we were right in the middle of an English report and Mr. Lancer is gonna kill us if…ow!" He screamed out loud in pain as Sam gave him a hard elbow, which signaled that he should shut up.

Danny growled at Slade, "What do you want?"

Slade replied in his usual icy manner, "I grow tired of tracking you down myself and engaging with you in combat. This time, I'm going to make sure you find me."

Danny raised an eyebrow in confusion, "And why would I want to find you when you haven't done anything?"

Slade held up a remote in his hand and said, "Because of this. I'm sure you three are aware of the mountain that rests just outside your little city."

Tucker answered to that, "Yeah. It used to be a volcano up until a massive earthquake made it dormant over a hundred years ago."

"Precisely," Slade said, holding his remote, "And with a push of a button, I can reactivate the volcano to the point where it will erupt in mere seconds."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker exchanged fearful looks.

Danny said to Slade, "How? What does that remote do?"

"Deep in the ground underneath the volcano, I have planted a seismic disruptor. If the button is pushed, it will interfere with the seismic patterns and force the magma out of the ground, thus causing an eruption so great, your little city will be transformed into a wasteland."

Fearing Slade's latest plan, Danny asked Slade, "Where are you?"

"You can figure it out, young man. You may maintain a Grade Point Average of a C, but you obviously have the street smarts you need. Good day."

He disappeared from the PDA, which was replaced by static once more before it went back to the original screen that Tucker had it on.

With that, Danny, Sam, and Tucker just stared at the PDA screen. Sam looked worried. Tucker looked baffled. And Danny simply looked livid with fury.

_We're gonna stop it there for now. Oh, boy! Where could Slade be? And a bigger question is…why is he pulling something like this when he's said he's just wanted Danny? Right now, I'm having a little bit of trouble thinking of my own ideas for what comes next. I would appreciate some help. Review, and Chapter 7 will be up soon!_


	7. Searching the City

_Hello! How is everything? I'm in a pretty good mood today. Not a whole lot of reviews, but it's alright. I wanted to get in an update before Friday, because I may only be on the computer for an hour that day. I'm going to a Los Angeles Lakers-New Jersey Nets game at 7:30 that night. The Lakers are my favorite team, so…yeah. But enough about me._

_Let's get back to it! Chapter 7 is now here!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Seven: Searching the City**

"We have to find that disruptor thing!" Danny shouted as he paced the floor of his living room with a look of intensity on his face. He added, "If we can't find that thing and deactivate, that eruption will turn Amity Park into a parking lot!"

Sam put her hands on his shoulders and shook him, "Danny, you have to relax! We can do this. We can find it."

Danny pushed his Goth friend away and yelled back, "Sam, Slade controls when it goes off! He can make it erupt at any second!"

Tucker was currently taking a look at his PDA. He was looking at a playback of Slade's message.

Sam looked at her techno-geek friend and asked, "What are you doing, Tuck?"

Tucker responded, "Just trying to find anything that might give us a hint as to where this Slade guy could be."

"Good thinking, Tuck," Danny said, "We'll need to get the remote if we want to shut off that disruptor. You find any hints?"

After a few moments, Tucker replied, "So far, I don't have any leads."

Sam asked him, "Did you scan the background of where he was?"

"Hang on," Tucker responded, "Let me zoom in a bit." He zoomed in onto the screen and looked around the area. There wasn't a whole lot of it. He checked everywhere, the ceiling, the walls, the floor…

Tucker raised an eyebrow when he found something lying on the floor on the screen. He motioned for Danny to come look, "Dude, check this out."

Danny walked over and looked at what was on the floor. It looked like a ripped off piece of paper. There was writing on it, but he couldn't read it.

Danny said to Tucker, "Zoom in closer." Tucker did as he was told and zoomed in more. As he did, the paper came more into focus. He continued to zoom in until Danny was finally able to read what was on it.

Danny read it out loud. There were only two words.

"Elliot Kravitz."

Danny scratched the top of his head, "Elliot Kravitz. Where have I heard that name before?"

The three of them scratched their chins and thought for a minute.

Finally, Sam snapped her fingers and cried, "Of course! Don't you remember? The Box Ghost!"

Danny raised his eyebrow in confusion, "Elliot Kravitz is the Box Ghost?"

"No! When we first met him! He threw a box belonging to Kravitz at you that night!"

Danny slapped his forehead, "I _knew_ I heard that name somewhere! That was at that abandoned warehouse by the pier!"

Tucker joined in, "Then that has to be where Slade is!"

"Yes! Okay, Tucker and Sam, you guys head to the mountain and try to shut off that disruptor."

Sam threw her arms out, "Danny, how are we gonna do that? The disruptor is underground, underneath the volcano."

"Come with me," Danny answered. He led the three of them down into the basement. Once there, Danny rushed over to one corner of the basement and picked up a fairly large device. It looked like a drill.

Sam looked unimpressed, "A drill?"

"My dad calls it the Fenton Drill. According to him, it can drill through the ground at a very fast pace. You guys can use it to find the disruptor."

Tucker held up his PDA and said, "And I can scan for it with this."

Sam smiled and took the drill, "This just might work." Her smile then faded as she said, "Hold on. If Tucker and I are going to deactivate the disruptor, what are you gonna do?"

Danny put on a look of intensity and responded coldly, "I'm going after Slade."

Tucker and Sam exchanged looks of fear. Tucker asked him, "Dude, are you sure? I mean, you've gotten pounded the last two…"

Danny interrupted, "I'm sure. Now, let's go. We may not have much time."

And before his friends could respond, Danny hurried out the door. Tucker and Sam followed.

* * *

Danny knew the lay of the land around Amity Park, so he was able to find the warehouse by the pier where he first met the Box Ghost inside of five minutes. Mount Amity was on the edge of the city, on the other side of it where Danny was. It was actually closer to Fenton Works than the pier, but given Danny's maximum flight speed of 112 miles per hour and his knowledge of the town, it didn't matter. 

Danny pulled out his cell phone and called Sam. She picked up after two rings.

"Hello?"

"Sam? Danny. You guys there?"

"Nearly at the base of the mountain right now," Sam responded riding her scooter, with the drill bulging in her backpack.

"Now remember. If you see any signs of that mountain blowing its top, _get out ASAP_."

"Got it. Danny, are you sure you know what you're doing? Slade isn't just some random threat like an ecto-puss or something."

Danny scowled, "Sam, I know that. And I know what I'm doing."

"I'm just…"

"Goodbye." And before Sam could protest, Danny hung up.

Sam sighed as she rode through the late afternoon. She muttered to herself, "I worry about him sometimes."

* * *

Danny flew over to the warehouse and phased inside. He looked around. Everything looked the same as it did the last time he was here with Sam and Tucker, except there weren't quite as many boxes. 

Feeling daring at the moment, Danny called out, "Slade! Come out and show yourself!"

Danny knew that was a very stupid way to enter, just screaming for a new-found foe that appeared more dangerous and more sinister than nearly ever other foe he had ever faced before. A foe, more to the point, that had virtually kicked his butt in their only two encounters.

Danny started to fly softly through the air, searching for any signs of anything out of the ordinary.

After about five minutes, he couldn't find anything he could call strange. All he really found besides the boxes was a mouse, which scurried into a hole after it saw Danny.

Feeling like he had just been led down the wrong trail, Danny then heard his cell phone ring. He answered it, "Hello."

"Danny? It's Sam. We're at the base of the mountain and we're going to fire up the drill now. As soon as we figure out how it works."

"I've been in the warehouse for five minutes. But I can't find Slade any…"

Danny was cut off as an arrow fired through the air. It hit Danny's cell phone while he was holding it. The phone shot out of his hand and the arrow carried it to the wall, where it broke.

Danny turned to where it came from. He saw at least ten masked figures standing there. They looked like Slade, but they had masks that were all gray and they appeared to have goggles over their eyes.

"Good afternoon, Danny," said a voice all too familiar to Danny now.

Danny looked up. Slade was on a ledge up in the rafters with a remote in his hand.

Danny called out, "Hand over that remote!"

Slade answered back, "I suppose I might be tempted to…if you can fight your way past my little friends."

Danny scoffed, "Only ten? Big deal!"

But as he said this, Danny heard footsteps. He looked around and saw that more of Slade's henchmen were entering. And more. And more. When the last of them finally entered, there were at least a hundred of them and they had Danny surrounded.

Danny looked fearful, but he shook it off, and fired a ghost ray at the first round of henchmen.

_And thus, we end it here! Danny has reached the warehouse where Slade is, but now he has to fight off Slade's henchmen! Can he? And will Tucker and Sam deactivate the disruptor in time? Find out in Chapter 8! R/R!_


	8. Battle by the Boat Dock

_Hi, guys. What's up? Had kind of a bad day, so I'll hope to cheer myself up by typing up Chapter 8 for you. Sorry I haven't updated; I've been pretty busy the last couple days. Finally got some free time and actually opened up Microsoft Word. lol_

_Here we go! Chapter 8 is here!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Eight: Battle by the Boat Dock**

While Danny fought Slade's henchmen, Tucker and Sam stood at the base of Mount Amity. It stretched up nearly a mile high and cast a shadow over them as the sun set over the horizon.

Sam took the Fenton Drill out of her backpack and held it out, "Okay. How do you think we work this?"

Tucker examined it closely, "Uh…let's try this red button." He pushed it, and the drill started spinning around at a very fast pace.

Tucker pumped his fist, "Yes! Got it on the first try!"

Sam rolled her eyes and held the drill inches from the ground. She moved it closer until it finally started to drill into the earth, kicking up dirt as it drilled in deeper.

* * *

"Ooof!" Danny grunted as he was knocked against the wall. He looked around and discovered that out of the hundred or so henchmen, he had knocked out only five of them. 

Growling, Danny flew upward and fired a ghost ray at one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another henchman jump up to him. Danny grabbed him by his arm and swung him around. He swung until he felt he couldn't go any faster, and then let go.

The results were astounding. The henchman slammed into another one, and they both went tumbling backward, knocking two other henchmen to the ground as they rolled.

But Danny couldn't give himself a pat on the back yet. More were coming from around him, several making a jump for him.

As he continued to blast, punch, and kick the henchmen, Danny called out to Slade, "Why are you sending these guys out on me instead of fighting me yourself?"

Slade responded quietly, "You'll find out, my dear boy."

Danny grunted as one henchman gave him an uppercut in the chin, sending him flipping through the air. He quickly recovered and blasted him out of the way with a ghost ray.

But then five more henchmen jumped at him at once. Danny projected a green shield and they bounced off, falling toward the ground. Danny fired ghost rays at them, increasing the speed of their fall, and they landed on the ground with a great crash.

Four more jumped at Danny from different sides of him. This time Danny went intangible and they phased through him. Danny then blasted them with a few more ghost rays.

Unfortunately, at least sixty henchmen remained. Because of Danny's new endurance, he was still feeling ready to fight though. He flew down to the ground as one henchman ran at him head-on, with another one following behind him.

Danny jumped the first one and gave the second one a kick in the chin with his right foot. The first one tried to punch Danny, whose back was facing him. But Danny spun around and gave him a leg sweep, knocking him over. And for good measure, Danny stomped on top of his head, sending circuits and bolts flying everywhere.

As Danny continued pounding Slade's henchmen, perhaps more than what was necessary, Slade continued to watch him, unmoving up on the rafters, with a look of interest in his one seen eye.

* * *

Because moving the drill straight down would be a very stupid thing to do, Tucker and Sam moved it in a zigzag formation. That way, they could climb back up much easier. 

They had been digging into the ground for at least half an hour and were now deep into the earth, where Tucker was checking his PDA for any signs of the disruptor.

Sam sighed as she continued operating the drill. Because it kicked up mud and dirt, both of them were a total mess, with the contents of the earth scattered all over their bodies.

Tucker groaned, "I am definitely going to need a shower when this is over."

Sam replied, "You may not get your chance if we can't shut down that disruptor." She continued to drill into the ground.

It kept going for a few more minutes until they heard a loud _doing!_

Sam turned off the drill and asked Tucker, "What was that?"

They brushed some dirt out of the way and saw a substance that looked like steel. They brushed off a bit more mud and they saw a handle. It was a door!

At this, Sam stated, "Naturally, Slade would need a door to get the disruptor down here. Tucker, help me open it."

Tucker did as he was told and they pulled on the handle until it wrenched open. They looked down and saw nothing but darkness.

Tucker looked uneasy, "Uh, I don't know about this. Maybe we shouldn't go down."

Sam looked ready to respond, but then they heard a small rumbling. They looked up, and saw dirt sliding down on them!

Tucker cried, "The ground's caving in!"

Sam shouted to him, "You were saying?"

Tucker yelled back, "Let's jump!"

Tucker quickly jumped down through the door. Sam grabbed the handle on the other side of the door and jumped down through the door as well, pulling the door shut as she dropped.

She didn't drop far, only a few feet before landing on the ground with a thud.

Sam grunted as she sat up, calling out, "Tucker? Where are you?"

All she heard was a muffled sound.

Sam called out again, "What was that?"

Another sound came out, but one that was audible, "You're sitting on top of me."

Sam looked down and saw Tucker underneath her, facing down. She quickly jumped off, "Oh my gosh, Tucker! I'm sorry!"

Tucker spat out a piece of dirt and replied, "Oh, it's alright. Just dirt in my mouth. I love the taste of dirt in my mouth." He stood up and looked around, "Where are we?" Darkness shrouded the area.

Sam searched her backpack and found a flashlight. She turned it on and shined it around.

She said to Tucker, "We're in a tunnel. Slade must have made it when he put the disruptor down here." The tunnel was quite narrow, with steel on the ceilings and on the walls. Their backs were facing a steel wall, but in front of them, just darkness.

Seeing the wall behind them when turning around, Tucker said, "Looks like it's this way."

They started down the tunnel, while Tucker checked his PDA.

* * *

The number of Slade's henchmen had now been diminished to about thirty, and now Danny was getting tired. 

Danny panted as he shouted up to Slade, "What's the point of sending these guys on me when you can activate that disruptor any time you want?"

Slade simply replied with the control behind his back, "All part of the plan, Danny. You'll discover it soon enough."

Danny moaned as he saw that the henchmen surrounding him.

He grunted, "Time to end this." Then he opened his mouth wide and unleashed his ghostly wail. Waves of energy were unleashed everywhere and the henchmen were knocked down. Up in the rafters, Slade got down onto the ground of them and held on tight to avoid being blown away himself.

* * *

Tucker and Sam noticed it getting awfully warm as they continued through the tunnel. Tucker finally said, "I've got something. Looks like the disruptor should be just ahead. We're almost directly under the middle of Mount Amity." 

The two of them quickened their pace. Finally, about a hundred yards ahead, they saw something up on the roof of the tunnel. It was a fairly small mechanical contraption. Two wires stuck out and were connected to the outside of it. The letter S was on it.

Sam called out, "That's it!"

* * *

Danny kept up the ghostly wail until all the henchmen were down. As a result, a ring passed through him and stopped, changing his suit back to his regular shirt, jeans, and sneakers, although he still sported gloves, white hair, and glowing green eyes. 

Falling to his knees in exhaustion, Danny looked back up in the rafters and saw Slade, clapping. The remote rested in front of him.

Slade stopped clapping and said coolly, "Very impressive, young man. You displayed quite the remarkable killer instinct in annihilating my henchmen. You'll learn to put it to a better use…soon enough."

There he was again, messing around with his head and pointing out his skills, but in not a way Danny preferred.

Danny grunted as a ring passed through him again, transforming back into completely Danny Phantom.

Danny shouted, "Hand over that remote!" He fired a ghost ray at Slade, who did not move. The ray neared him, and then passed right through him with a flicker!

Danny was shocked as Slade flickered a few more times, and then disappeared. The remote did the same.

Danny scowled, "Hologram."

A light shone on where the Slade hologram was, and a screen appeared in it, showing the real Slade.

Danny shouted, "What was that all about? And where's the real remote for the disruptor?"

"Remote?" Slade said, "There is no remote. And there is no disruptor."

* * *

At this moment, Tucker had a wire from his PDA plugged into the device on the ceiling of the tunnel. He was doing a bunch of typing as he was looking for a way to shut it down. 

Sam hurried him along, "Come on, Tucker. We may not have much time."

Tucker answered, "I'm trying, I'm trying. This isn't that easy, you…"

Tucker was interrupted as they heard a pop. Before they knew it, the device fell off the ceiling and onto the ground, where it broke to pieces and affected nobody.

Both Tucker and Sam looked puzzled. Tucker said, "I didn't do that."

Sam asked, "But why did it just…fall on its own?"

* * *

"A hoax?" Danny yelled at Slade in outrage, "You made me come here and made Tucker and Sam go underground, and there's no real disruptor? Why? What are you up to, you freak!" 

Slade merely responded, "Patience, Danny. It will all come into place soon enough. Good night."

The screen flickered away, with darkness shrouding the place as the afternoon had now drifted into night.

With that, Danny just stood there, never saying a word, and never showing any expression on his face except utter confusion.

_That's all for now! Yes, some of you may have been expecting something else. I originally was thinking of something else for this, but that sounded too much like the Teen Titans two part episode "Apprentice". I'm trying to keep this original, but it's plenty difficult. We'll see how it progresses. Anyway, with Slade's seismic disruptor turning out to be fake, what is he really up to? Let us wait for Chapter 9! R/R!_


	9. The Problems Mount

_Greetings, guys! I'm a little tired today, but I also had some free time. Rare, since this whole week I've been busy with one thing or another. That explains the long wait for an update._

_Wait's over now! Let us read Chapter 9! I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans._

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Nine: The Problems Mount**

Late that night, Danny lay in bed, unable to sleep. He knew it was Monday night and he had school tomorrow, but he couldn't help it. There were too many thoughts in his head.

More or less, he knew that everything had turned out okay. There had been no real threat to the city, he had fought off every single one of Slade's henchmen, and he had flown underground Mount Amity and searched around until he had eventually found Sam and Tucker and flown them out of there.

But why? What was the point of setting up the fake disruptor? What was the point of sending all of his henchmen to attack him? And perhaps most puzzling, what was the point of sending a hologram of himself instead of being there in person?

_He must be up to something major, _Danny thought to himself, _But what? Why did he lead me down to that sewer? Why did he follow me to my house? Why did he make me come to the warehouse for no real reason at all?_

_And what did he mean by me showing "impressive killer instinct"? What is he trying to do to me?_

Nobody answered these questions, although they continued to linger in Danny's mind until he finally drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

* * *

Danny looked sleepy as he, Tucker, and Sam walked to school the next day. 

Sam asked him, "Long night?"

Danny rubbed his eye, "I've had better ones."

Tucker said to him, "Good news is Amity Park won't be turned into a lava exhibit."

Danny turned to his best friend and responded, "That's what's been bothering me all night, Tuck. The fact that Amity Park never _was_ in danger, and the fact that I fought off nearly a hundred of Slade's henchmen without a real purpose."

Sam said to him, "Well, we do have something that might wake you up a bit."

"What's that?"

"Last night, we both did super extensive research, and we finally have a bit of info on Slade."

Danny's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, "Seriously! What? Where? When? Answers!"

Tucker whispered to Sam, "That woke him up alright."

Sam took a paper out of her backpack and handed it to Danny, "It's all on here."

Danny looked through the paper, reading a few words of it out loud, "Hmmm, robberies, destruction, and other dangerous activity originated by the masked man known only as Slade. All in one location."

Sam finished for him, "Jump City."

Danny looked up from the paper and retorted, "Jump City? What kind of name for a city is that?"

Tucker answered, "Whoever named it, Jump City is somewhere out west on the coast."

Danny asked them, "Is this all you found out? Nothing on who Slade is?"

They shook their heads.

Danny sighed, "Great. I'm no closer to being any more prepared for Slade when he next shows his face."

Tucker held up a finger and said, "Well, actually, he hasn't shown his face at all, wearing a mask all the time."

Danny and Sam glared at him.

Tucker threw his hands out, "What! He hasn't!"

* * *

For the rest of the week, Danny practically lived on the computer. He searched everywhere for as much information of Slade he could get his hands on. And it all came to nothing that the info that Sam and Tucker hadn't given him on Tuesday. 

At one point, Danny had reached a level of frustration so great that he knocked the keyboard off the desk.

But on Thursday night, he had been able to find something that concerned Slade.

Apparently, also residing in Jump City were five teenagers, all but one with superpowers, and all of whom had fought against Slade a number of times. They were known as the Teen Titans, consisting of Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy.

But that was all. Nothing more or less, and Danny spent a couple of sleepless nights trying to mull it all over.

Friday finally came. It was warm and sunny, a perfect sign for the weekend just on the horizon.

But Danny didn't seem to be making an effort to enjoy it. And the fact that he once again found it difficult to pay attention during school didn't help either. He had gotten told off by Mr. Lancer for daydreaming, and he had gotten a D on a history test that they took yesterday.

Noticing Danny not saying anything on the walk home, Sam groaned, "Danny, are you still thinking about Slade?"

Danny looked at her warily and lied, "No."

Sam stared at him.

Tucker said to him, "Dude, are you ever gonna talk to us about this?"

Danny sighed frustratedly, "I'll talk about it when I _feel_ like it, so stop badgering me!"

Tucker and Sam raised their eyebrows and stared at Danny.

Danny held his hand to his forehead, "I'm sorry, guys. It's just frustrating for me trying to figure out what Slade's up to. Tell you what. When we get home, I'll talk to you guys about it."

Tucker chuckled nervously, "Yeah, about that…"

Sam finished for him, "It'll have to wait until the weekend."

"What?" Danny said, perplexed, "Why?"

Sam responded, "Yesterday, Tucker and I both got a letter in the mail. We're both supposed to go to some meeting around 5:00."

Tucker added, "Apparently, it's for a meat versus veggies debate. It's supposed to decide what is eaten at the Casper High Class Reunion of 1976 next month. Chairman's a vegetarian, but the President's a carnivore."

Sam finished, "The letter said that they recognized our opinions between meat and veggies and want us there. We don't know how long it's gonna last, so we can't make any plans for tonight."

Danny was a bit taken aback by this news, but he said calmly, "Oh, okay. No big deal. Go ahead and have a good time. See you later."

With that, Danny turned off to his house while Tucker and Sam went the other way.

* * *

At ten to five, Tucker and Sam both stood in front of the building they were instructed to go to for the meeting. 

Both of their faces looked skeptical. Tucker said, "Something doesn't feel right."

Sam agreed, "I know. I don't remember this building being used at all for years."

Which was true. The last people who lived in the building were a rather messy family. They had all died in a fire about eight years ago when someone left the stove on when they went to sleep. No one bought the house after that.

Tucker asked her, "You sure this is the right place?"

Sam checked the letter and said, "This is it."

They both thrust the door open and walked inside. It was dark and uninhabited.

Sam called out, "Hello?"

Tucker called out, "Anyone here? We're here for the meeting!"

No answer.

Sam turned to Tucker and said, "Do you think it got cancelled or rescheduled or something?"

"Not at all," said a voice that was not theirs, "You're right on time."

That was followed by the door slamming shut and locking, followed by several shadowy figures moving out of the darkness…right towards them.

_That's all for now! Please don't kill me. Looks like Sam and Tucker have fallen right into a trap, in which Danny is unaware of! Can he get to his friends? Find out in Chapter 10!_


	10. Empowering Objectives

_Hello, people! Got a good number of reviews, so I give you an update quicker than usual. I wanted to get one, hopefully two updates between now and my birthday, which is this Friday. I'll be 16 that day! But enough about me. I've decided to change the title of the story for reasons you'll know later on._

_Chapter 10 is here! Check it out!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Ten: Empowering Objectives**

Danny woke up with a sigh. He hadn't gotten that much sleep, and Tucker and Sam hadn't called at all last night, which must have meant that the meeting they had gone to had gone longer than they originally thought.

He headed downstairs to the kitchen after taking a shower and getting dressed. As he made himself some cereal, his mother, Maddie, walked over to him.

She greeted him, "Good morning, Danny. Hey, have you seen Tucker and Sam around lately?"

Danny looked a little confused at being asked this. He responded, "Not since after school yesterday. They were going to some meat/veggie meeting."

Maddie stated to him, "Well, their parents just called. Apparently, they never came home last night. They sounded really worried."

Danny was a little shocked at hearing this, but he tried to keep his voice calm, "Maybe they just got home late and went out early today?"

"Did they make plans with you today?"

"Well, they did say they were going to talk to me about…something. But we never set up when." Danny didn't want to bring up Slade at all; it was tricky enough convincing his parents that the injuries he had gotten for the last couple weeks had just been from a couple scooter accidents.

"Well, if you see them at all today, could you tell them that their parents are worried?"

"Sure thing, Mom."

Danny seemed perfectly calm as he started eating cereal and milk for his breakfast. But even as he ate, he had a sense that something was not right.

* * *

That sense intensified as Danny was not able to find his two best friends all day. He searched Amity Park high and low: the park, the mall, Nasty Burger, the pharmacy which sold ice cream, the amusement park, and in a last desperate ditch, the area around Casper High. 

A grave thought came to Danny's mind as he walked back home by himself as the sun began to set. _Could they have gotten into some kind of trouble with the meeting last night?_

Danny chuckled as he tried to shake it off, "Nah. I'm just getting a little bit paranoid, that's all."

An idea suddenly occurred to him. Danny pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. He had just gotten this one after his old one had been smashed in the warehouse Monday night. He did have to borrow money from Sam to get it, but he promised to pay her back later.

"Tucker always answers his PDA," Danny said to himself as he dialed his number.

Two rings later, a face finally came on the screen. Danny's mouth split into a wide grin, but it evaporated in an instant when he saw who it was. It was not Danny's techno-geek best friend, but Slade.

"How nice of you to call, Danny," Slade said coolly.

Danny scowled, "Where's Tucker? What did you do with him? Do you have Sam there too?"

"So eager to get answers, are we? Very well. You may see your friends."

The screen moved away from Slade and moved to Tucker and Sam, both suspended by chains tied to their wrists on a wall. Their feet hung about a foot off the ground, and their arms stuck straight up due to the chains. The two of them also had a gooey red substance on their mouths, obviously to prevent them from speaking. They were still grunting, trying to scream what were obviously cries for help to the ghost boy.

"Where are they!" Danny screamed at Slade in a mingled fury.

The figure of Slade came back onto the screen and he replied to Danny, "Since you were able to discover where Monday's call originated from, I suppose I could show you."

Other parts of wherever they were were shown on the screen. Danny saw a lot of electrical equipment, lights, and sparkling electricity throughout the place.

Danny muttered, "The Power Plant."

The screen again went back to Slade and he said, "Very good, my boy. I would suggest for you not to bring water."

Danny quickly said back to Slade, "Are you going to be there for real this time, or is it just going to be another stupid hologram?"

Slade's one seen eye seemed to bear into Danny's heart as he answered, "You'll find out."

And before Danny could say another word, Slade hung up, leaving the screen on his phone blank.

Danny had a look of intensity as he said out loud, "Now this guy is going after my friends. This time, he is _really_ going to pay."

With that, Danny went ghost, and he flew off in the direction of the city Power Plant.

* * *

The Power Plant was perched on the south side of Amity Park. It was a place nobody liked to venture into, mainly because of the potentially dangerous activity that always went on beneath the walls of the building. 

Danny pondered over why Slade would decide to keep Sam and Tucker captive in this place that could be dangerous for everybody involved.

But no matter if Slade was holding his friends here or in China, he would do whatever it takes to save them.

Danny phased inside the building and scanned the surroundings. Bright light engulfed the place, even though he was still able to look around in it. Danny said out loud, "Maybe I should've brought sunglasses."

The ghost boy moved forward, searching for his missing friends, and moving higher to get a better view, since there wasn't as much light up there.

Finally, in a far corner of the room, he saw Tucker and Sam chained to the wall just as he saw them earlier.

But no sooner than two seconds after he caught a glimpse of them was he slammed on top of the head from behind him. Danny was hurtled to the ground and bounced into the wall.

Danny quickly looked up and got to his feet with an angry looked imprinted on his face. Sure enough, he saw Slade, this time armed with a metal staff, standing up on a catwalk.

"Welcome again, Danny. I see you are motivated by those you love. Touching…but also a weakness."

Again, Danny really didn't know what kind of game that Slade was trying to play with him, but he wasn't going to let this maniac win.

"You may have kicked my butt before by catching me off-guard and unprepared," Danny said with a cold sneer, "but this time, you won't be so lucky, and the second I get my friends to safety, it's going to be like Friday the thirteenth for you."

"That sounds like a threat, Daniel. You appear to be pretty good at stating one. I wasn't really sure you had it in you, child."

Danny growled, "What are you up to? What do you want with me? Why are you trying to mess around with my mind?"

"Patience, my boy. For now, do you wish to have your friends back or not?"

Danny's mouth split into a sneering smile and he answered, "I thought you'd never ask."

_That would be all for now! Danny and Slade are about to engage in combat once again, this time with a real purpose. Will Danny get his friends back? And what is Slade planning with him? Find out in Chapter 11, coming Friday or Saturday!_


	11. A Troubling Talk

_Greetings, fellow lifeforms! How goes it? I had the free time I needed, so I was able to put this together for you. And before we head to the new chapter, I would just like to say…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! 16 years old today, and it feels great!_

_Alright, enough celebration. It's time for Chapter 11!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Eleven: A Troubling Talk**

Danny started immediately by firing a ghost ray at Slade, which he calmly side-stepped. The ray struck the wall and left a gaping hole in it.

Slade watched the ray hit, and then turned to Danny, "Impressive. Unless you were aiming for me."

"Quit taunting me!" Danny roared as he flew straight towards Slade. As he neared him, Slade swung his staff at Danny. But Danny was ready for it and went intangible. The staff harmlessly went through him.

Now having an opportunity that had been scarce in his fights with Slade, Danny gave him a hard backhand slap to his face. Danny's strike was true and Slade stumbled backward.

Satisfied at drawing first blood, Danny fired a ghost ray from close up. Slade swung his staff again and knocked it away. He then tried to swing the staff at Danny again, but just as before, he phased through it.

Danny smirked and hovered over his opponent, "I think you might be losing your touch, Slade. You haven't even touched me yet."

Slade sneered behind his mask, "Don't sound so sure of yourself, dear boy. We've barely begun." He then pushed a button on his belt. He started to glow a bright red, along with his staff. They glowed for a few seconds before it stopped.

Wondering what that possibly could've been, Danny flew at Slade and tried to kick him from above. But Slade grabbed hold of his foot in mid-air. Danny went intangible, but was shocked to Slade still holding onto his foot!

Seeing the ghost boy perplexed, Slade explained, "Like it? This button I just pushed has inserted a chemical compound throughout my nervous system, as well as into my staff. It is very much similar to ectoplasm, so if you had any thoughts of trying to phase through my attacks, forget them."

With that, Slade swung Danny over his head and slammed him down onto the floor of the catwalk. Face down, Danny looked up and saw Slade's foot moving down to crush his head.

Danny quickly phased through the catwalk and down below it. Hovering below the catwalk, he fired a ghost ray at one end of it. It blew apart the end of it, and with nothing on that end to support it, it fell off balance, sending everything on it down, including Slade.

Slade fell off, but as he fell, a tower which contained high voltage equipment stood in his way. He landed his feet on it, and pushed off of it, backflipping through the air and landing on his feet on the ground below Danny.

Danny was a bit awestruck at seeing this, but he tried not to show it. It was hard enough hiding the general fear he had for Slade behind a wall of anger and hatred for him.

Not wanting to let Slade gain the momentum in this pivotal battle, Danny started firing ghost rays again at Slade, but he seemed to pre-determine his every shot as he jumped, flipped, and rolled around every single one of them.

Frustrated as he had been, Danny called out, "How do you know so much about me anyway?"

Slade answered, "I must say that having acquaintanceships with your foes can be very rewarding. Pity you seem to think of me as one of them."

Danny growled, "Why wouldn't I think that?" He then flew at Slade and tried desperately to land a punch to his face while he went on, "You're psychotic, ruthless, vicious, and obsessive."

"You make it sound like they're bad," Slade responded, dodging Danny's punches, "Even when they are still a part…of you."

Danny looked a bit shocked at this, but he shouted, "NO!" as one punch finally found its target. Slade was hit around his shoulder blade and he stumbled backward.

Danny looked furious as he yelled at Slade, "I am none of those things! I am not like you!"

"You may think that," Slade responded, "But it seems to me that few others think the same way."

Danny didn't answer verbally. Instead he fired a ghost ray at Slade with both hands. This time Slade swung his staff like a baseball bat. The ray was knocked back at Danny and it struck him, fazing him for a moment.

Slade took advantage of this and gave Danny a jump-kick to his chest. Blood shot out of him as he was knocked through the air, and to add injury to insult, he hit one piece of electrical equipment, making a dent in it, and Danny was zapped with electricity because of it.

The pain shot through Danny's nerves for a few moments before it finally subsided. Danny fell to the ground from high above.

Slade watched as Danny struggled to his feet, saying, "It's because of your so called 'heroic exploits' that your friends are in such danger. In danger now, just as they have been before, and will continue to be…all because of you."

"Shut up," Danny grunted as he was now back on his feet.

"You want them to help you, to assist you in your battles, to gamble with their lives just so you can get what you want. Despite that, they are still of no use to you anyway. All they do is sit back and watch you protect them so they get the easy parts, and what thanks does that get you?"

"Shut up!" Danny shouted as he fired a ghost ray. Slade sidestepped it and walked towards Danny.

"And it goes beyond them, Danny. To your sister, who gets on your nerves, your parents, who hunt you, and this whole city, who hates you. And it's all merely because of who you are. A ghost."

Slade now stopped about a foot away from Danny and went on, "What's the point of trying to do good if you're never appreciated for it, even when a greater purpose for your powers lurks inside you?"

Danny had had enough. He roared, "SHUT UP!" As he did, he kicked Slade in the gut with all his might. Slade was hurled through the air and landed on the ground. Slade looked up and saw Danny trying to land a punch to Slade's face with everything he had. Slade rolled out of the way and Danny's fist met the floor, making a hole in it.

Blood was dripping down Danny's fingers as he stood up. Slade was nowhere in sight.

"Come on out!" Danny screamed, "Come on out and fight, you creep!"

"As you wish," said a voice that sent chills down Danny's spine behind him.

Danny barely had time to turn as he was socked to the face and stumbled backward. Danny tried to give Slade a punch of his own, but Slade ducked it with ease and shoved his staff right into Danny's gut. Danny cried out in extreme pain as blood mixed with ectoplasm shot out of him.

Danny fell back to the ground, feeling like he could just fall face-down and die at any second. His entire body was battered and bruised, blood and ectoplasm scattered across his chest down to his waist, and his skin still tingled painfully from the shock he received.

Slade walked up to the fallen hero and said quietly, "You can't protect them forever, dear boy. One day or another, they are going to fall, and when that day finally comes, it will be all your fault."

Danny listened closely. He was hating Slade and at the same time fearing him the more and more he talked.

Danny finally spoke in a voice that seemed to drip blood along with his own body, "Get away."

Danny then jumped up, directing his body into a backflip. As he did, his feet flew up and landed a hard blow right to Slade's chin. The blow knocked Slade to the ground as Danny landed back on his feet.

The ghost boy scowled and turned to his chained-up friends in the corner. He immediately shouted, "This ends now!" He fired ghost rays at the top of each chain.

Tucker and Sam shut their eyes in fear of getting hit themselves, but Danny's aim was right on the money. The tops of the chains were blown away, and the chains fell to the ground, bringing Tucker and Sam with them.

Noticing that they were still chained to each other, Danny shouted, "Guys! Spread out!"

His friends obeyed, and Danny fired another ghost ray at the chain. It was blown apart and Sam and Tucker could now move by themselves.

Danny turned around as Slade had recovered, and now simply stood in one place, saying, "You think this is over, Danny? We have not even begun yet."

Seeing that there was a high-voltage machine to the far wall next to them, Danny fired a ghost ray at it.

His aim was true and the machine went off with a large explosion. A wave of bright light and energy filled the interior of the Power Plant. Seeing his opportunity, Danny flew back to Sam and Tucker and phased them out through the ground.

* * *

As he carried Sam and Tucker, Danny flew and flew through the night sky. He continued flying at a fast pace and he didn't stop until he had put as much distance between him and Slade as he possibly could, stopping at Fenton Works. 

Finally back, Danny collapsed to the ground, dropping his friends and transforming back into Danny Fenton as he did.

Tucker and Sam took the red substance out of their mouths so they could speak. Once that was done, Sam saw Danny's current state and cried, "Danny!" She and Tucker immediately ran to his side.

In really hard beatings, Danny's injuries in ghost mode carried over into human mode, and that was once again the case here.

Tucker asked his fallen friend, "Dude, you okay?"

Danny panted, "Uh huh. Just…achy and tired."

Even at the fact that they had gotten away, even at the fact that they were safe for the moment, and even at the fact that Danny had dealt Slade much more blows in this battle than the first two, Danny found no reason on Earth to be happy as Slade's words replayed themselves in his head over and over and over again.

_And thus, Chapter 11 ends! Looks like Slade's really trying to mess around with Danny's head now! What is behind his mind games and criminal acts? Let us wait until Chapter 12!_


	12. Much Mulling and Maneuvering

_Hi, everyone. I have some bad news for you. My computer is going to be taken away, because my parents said I've been spending too much time on it. So I won't be able to put in any real updates for quite some time._

APRIL FOOLS! lol How many of you fell for that? Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Anyway, this is a real update. I got a lot of reviews since yesterday, and I've had time to write this for you.

_Chapter 12 is here! Check it out!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Twelve: Much Mulling and Maneuvering**

The next week passed by, bringing Danny's fifteenth birthday as well as the end of the school year, with Danny, Tucker, and Sam passing each subject. Danny cut it quite close with his lack of much ability to concentrate.

And despite the fact that summer had at last dawned upon them and that Danny was one year older, he was in no mood to celebrate. Ever since he had been able to rescue his friends from Slade's clutches, he had first gotten medical treatment from his parents (in one of their truly bizarre ways; he had also convinced them he had been attacked by a ghost), and then shut himself in his room the rest of the time.

Try as he might, he just couldn't stop thinking about the stuff Slade had said to him.

Danny knew that his parents were always after his ghost half. He knew that Jazz occasionally bugged him because she was worried about him sometimes. He knew that a lot of people in Amity Park thought he was evil. But that had never swayed him from standing by his duties as a hero.

In some ways, Danny knew that Slade had made sense. But what he said about Tucker and Sam not appreciating, just sitting back while he did the hard work…ridiculous.

Danny had known his two best friends for a very long time, and he knew that they cared about him. Nothing ever made him not think that.

_Slade's lying,_ Danny thought to himself while lying on his bed the Sunday afternoon after school let out, _He's trying to mess around with my mind and trying to make me think that nobody cares about me and that there's no point in being a hero._

But what also troubled him very much was another thing that Slade said.

"_It's because of your so called 'heroic exploits' that your friends are in such danger. In danger now, just as they have been before, and will continue to be…all because of you."_

"_You can't protect them forever, dear boy. One day or another, they are going to fall, and when that day finally comes, it will be all your fault."_

This bugged Danny more than the others. A number of times, his friends _had_ been put in danger because of him. Tucker was given evil ghost powers because Danny had acted like a show-off. Both of them had nearly died in the Nasty Burger explosion because he had chosen to cheat on the CAT. Sam was nearly married to a Ghost Zone prince because Danny had let the perks of being the beauty pageant judge got to his head.

_And why is he always pointing out that there may be evil inside of me?_ Danny thought,_ What is he trying to do with me?_

_It doesn't matter what he wants with me._ Danny sat up and walked towards his door. _Because he won't ever get it. Tonight, I'm going after him, and I'm going to end this._ Danny was tired of waiting around for Slade to pull his next criminal-minded move. This time, he was going to find him and end his antagonistic relationship with the masked madman.

Luckily, he had gotten help. On the last day of school that previous Thursday, which was also the last day he had seen Tucker and Sam, Tucker had pointed out something interesting from when Slade had struck Danny in the gut with his staff.

After analyzing it with his PDA, he had shown Danny that the substance that the staff was made of was an experimental chemical compound, and there was recently an abandoned warehouse downtown that used to ship it to various companies around the country.

It was there that Danny had decided that this would end. It wasn't definite that Slade would be there, but it was his best lead. And taking what Slade said about putting his friends in danger to heart, he wasn't saying a word to Sam and Tucker. He felt sick at the thought that something bad would happen to him and they didn't know a thing about it, but as long as he knew they were safe, he didn't care.

Danny stepped out of Fenton Works and said out loud, "Hope I can finally end this tonight."

He transformed into Danny Phantom. He took off downtown at a not too fast, but not too slow flight.

Danny had been flying for only about thirty seconds when the blue mist escaped from his mouth.

Danny said, "Well, this is a change of pace."

From on top of a roof stood one of Danny's more challenging foes, a teenager wearing a leather jacket, a motorcycle next to him, and sporting greasy blonde hair.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Johnny 13?"

Johnny responded, "That's right, punk. And it's time for payback on you."

Danny sighed and yelled, "I _really_ don't have time for this!"

"Too bad, because I have all the time in the world. Shadow, get him!"

Johnny's bad luck shadow flew out from under him and flew at the ghost boy in an attempt to grab him. Danny dodged the attack and fired a ghost ray at it. It hit and left a gaping hole in the shadow, but then it sewed itself back together.

Danny sighed, "I forgot it could do that."

* * *

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" a teenage girl ghost with bright hair that stuck out everywhere asked to an earpiece in her ear. 

"Quite sure," responded a cold and emotionless voice from the earpiece, "He's on his way right now."

Another pale-skinned ghost with a trench coat spoke to an earpiece of his own, "If it means making that ghost kid miserable, I'll take it."

"If you fail," the voice replied, "I will personally make sure it is _you_ who will be miserable."

Both ghosts flew in the same direction, although coming from different ones. As they flew, the voice in their earpieces spoke to them.

"Do not believe I have a certain likeness for either of you. I chose you both only because I have heard of you to be two of the best at your kinds'…unique ability."

"You might say that," said the girl, "and we chose to comply only because we both hold grudges against him."

"You do know I didn't leave you much of a choice."

The trench-coat ghost replied, "We'll do our job; just make sure we get rewarded for it."

Both ghosts phased into their location while invisible. The Nasty Burger. Sitting at one of the booths were Tucker and Sam.

Tucker noticed that Sam didn't seem to bother to drink her diet Cola. He asked her, "Sam, is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Sam responded, "Oh, no. I'm just thinking about Danny. I've been worried about him."

Tucker sighed, "I know what you mean. I've been worried about him too. He hasn't even been happy about his birthday or the end of the school year."

Sam asked him, "Do you think maybe what Slade said to him at the Power Plant last week got to him?"

"It's about to get to him a whole lot more," said a voice that was neither of theirs.

Tucker's and Sam's eyes bugged out as they saw the two ghosts turn visible in front of them. Everyone else around them screamed and hid.

Tucker called out, "Walker?"

Sam cried, "Kitty?"

Before they could say anything else, the two ghosts flew straight at them, and inside them!

Once inside, the two of them blinked their hosts' eyes and smiled.

In Tucker's voice, Walker said to the earpiece, "Phase one is complete."

In Sam's body, Kitty picked up two items: a tape recorder and some other high-tech device. They had set down both of them on the ground before overshadowing Tucker and Sam. Using Sam's voice, Kitty said to the earpiece, "Phase two is ready to commence."

"Excellent," said the voice in the earpiece, "Activate the recorder…and the polygraph machine."

* * *

Using all his strength, Danny swung Shadow around and gave him a mighty throw. He flew straight towards a building but phased right through it. 

Shadow flew back towards the ghost boy moments later and tried to punch him. Danny ducked it and gave Shadow a kick. Again it hit, but it simply sewed itself back up.

Wondering what he could try next, Danny's eyes hovered over to Johnny, still watching the battle unfolding on top of the building. He saw his motorcycle's reflector, which looked new and shiny. He then looked up and saw that it was cloudy, but the sun appeared to be struggling to peek through.

And idea clicked in Danny's head. He flew away from Shadow and went straight for Johnny.

Johnny saw him coming and flew up out of the way. To make sure Johnny was off him for a minute, Danny fired a ghost ray at him. It hit and Johnny was knocked farther away.

Danny then grabbed hold of the reflector and moved it around, trying to aim it the right way. By this time, the sun had finally peeked through the clouds.

As Shadow flew back towards him, Danny held the reflector a little bit lower, and was then nearly blinded as one of the sun's rays finally hit the reflector and bounced straight to Shadow!

Bright light being its weakness, Shadow screamed as it completely engulfed him…until it vanished.

Johnny looked dismayed at seeing this, but he scowled and tried to land a kick to Danny. Danny quickly saw Johnny coming and pulled out the Fenton Thermos. As a result, Johnny flew straight into the white beam that was shot out, and was sucked inside, screaming. The motorcycle disappeared as well.

Danny closed the thermos with a self-satisfied smile on his face. But it faded quickly as he said to himself, "Now for the big guy."

With that, Danny continued his flight downtown towards the warehouse where he suspected Slade to be…unaware of another sinister plot that was already going down.

_Chapter 12 shall end here! Right now, three questions come to mind: Why did Johnny 13 attack out of nowhere? What do Kitty and Walker want with Tucker and Sam? And what will happen if Danny encounters Slade yet again? Find out in Chapter 13! Just so you all know, **for this fic, **there will be only one more chapter._


	13. Danny's Decision

_Hi, folks. What's up? I wanted to get this up earlier, but I never really got around to it over the last couple of days. Finally decided to open up Microsoft Word for a change. Just so you all know, this will be the last chapter of the fanfic._

_Here we go! Let's hit Chapter 13!_

**Plotting for a Transformation**

**Chapter Thirteen: Danny's Decision**

A short time after sucking Johnny 13 into the Fenton Thermos, Danny arrived at the warehouse that he was looking for, just as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon behind him.

Wanting to be discrete this time, Danny phased through the wall and inside, turning himself invisible as he did.

Trying to be as quiet as he could, Danny flew slowly and carefully through the interior of the building. As he looked around, all he saw was a bunch of machines that looked like they hadn't been used for a very long time.

It went like this for ten minutes before Danny was getting the feeling that there was no one inside this abandoned building other than himself.

Feeling confident that Slade wasn't here, Danny said to himself, "I think my only lead has come to a dead end."

"Think again," said a cryptic voice through the darkness that took Danny no time at all to recognize.

Knowing there was no use remaining invisible any longer since Slade could hear him, Danny turned himself visible once more. Danny looked down to the ground and saw Slade with his arms behind his back, looking at Danny with interest.

Danny hissed, "Slade."

Slade responded, "Danny. I'm flattered that you would go to all this trouble just to find me."

Danny spat back, "Don't feel flattered, you creep. I'm here to take you down, once and for all. This ends tonight!" The fact that Slade had put Danny through this much spurred those words on.

"Well, well, well. Those are very strong and ruthless words, my boy. You are more like me than I would have first thought."

"Shut your mouth!" Danny shouted as he fired a ghost ray at Slade before he had given it a second thought. Slade jumped up and backflipped out of the way.

Wanting more than ever to end Slade's life right at that second, Danny charged through the air straight at Slade and tried to punch him. Slade jumped up above Danny, but Danny quickly turned to where he had jumped and blasted him with another ghost ray. He was hit and knocked through the air, but his body knew how to react and he landed back on his feet.

This time, Slade charged at Danny, ready to strike. Danny produced a shield and Slade's attempted punches and kicks didn't find their target. Danny then phased through the ground and out of sight.

Slade was patient and silent as he waited for the ghost boy to reappear.

After a few seconds, Danny reappeared behind Slade and tried to punch him.

But just like their second battle, Slade whipped around, but instead of grabbing Danny's hand and attempting to crush it, he grabbed Danny's arm and slammed him the other way onto the ground. Danny groaned as he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

Danny inhaled as he popped back on his feet. He flew at Slade and attempted to jump-kick him, but Slade grabbed hold of Danny's foot and twisted it in an unnatural position. Danny cried out loud as pain shot through his foot.

Slade let go after a few seconds and dropped Danny onto the ground, panting.

As Danny panted, Slade said to him, "Tired already, Danny? Don't tell me you've lost your touch over the last week."

Danny quickly got back on his feet again, "I'm just getting my second wind." He then screamed out in intensity as he gave Slade a massive uppercut. He was knocked off his feet and to the ground.

Not wanting to give Slade a chance to recover, Danny flew straight at him and delivered a devastating punch right to his face. Slade stumbled back again but didn't fall. Danny charged again and tried to leg sweep him, but Slade had now recovered and jumped up.

Danny wasn't expecting this, so he wasn't able to attack Slade at that point, for the masked man brought his leg down right into Danny's face.

Danny fell to the ground as blood mixed with ectoplasm shot out of his face. This time, the young ghost boy struggled to get back on his feet.

Slade stood above Danny and said, "Your powers are still developing, Danny. You cannot hope to defeat someone like me yet."

Just as last week, Danny's voice dripped more blood than his face as he said, "Watch me."

And before Slade could blink, Danny fired a close-range ghost ray at him. It hit and knocked him backward.

Danny didn't stop there. Ignoring all pain in him, Danny popped up and gave Slade a kick to his shoulder blade. It hit as well and Slade was knocked back again. Going for the knockout blow, Danny ran at Slade at top speed and gave him a blow right for his ribcage.

It hit very hard. For any normal person, it would've surely knocked him out. For Slade, it knocked him down to the ground, and he stayed there.

Danny breathed deeply but stayed alert as Slade lie on the ground.

Just then, Slade took something from his belt and slid it across the ground to Danny. It was a tape recorder.

Danny picked it up and said, "What's this?"

Out of the corner of Danny's eye, Slade slid another device to Danny. He then stood up again, saying to Danny, "A tape recorder is the first item, Danny. As for the second, I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of a polygraph machine."

Danny was a little confused at being given this. He knew from a number of watched movies what a polygraph was.

"A lie detector," Danny said out loud.

"Very good. It tells the truth for whatever voice it hears, and is one hundred percent accurate," Slade replied.

"Why are you giving me these things?"

"Allow me to explain. Last week, when I picked up your dear friends, I overheard a little conversation of theirs shortly before I silenced them. I happened to catch it all on tape. Would you like to hear it?"

Looking puzzled, Danny asked, "Why would I want to hear it?"

"It happens to concern you, and I believe you would find it very important. Turn on the recorder, listen, and watch the lie detector."

Still confused as to what Slade was trying to do, Danny decided to turn the recorder on.

The first thing he heard was Tucker's voice, "I tell you, Danny better come to save us, Sam."

Then Sam's voice came through, "Well, it _is_ the only reason we hang out with him, isn't it? Just so we have our own personal bodyguard?"

"Well, duh. I was thinking of severing ties with him a while ago, but then he got the powers and started kicking butt and I thought, 'This could work for me.'"

"Same for me, Tuck. Glad we have him to protect us."

The tape shut off, and Danny looked positively shocked. The polygraph machine was on, with the needle moving that decided whether or not the voice was telling the truth. And the line had been straight the whole time, signaling nothing but the truth.

He felt like he had just fallen into the twilight zone at hearing what he had just heard. He said quietly, "They don't care…"

Danny fell to his knees and started sobbing into the ground, still in disbelief.

As he sobbed, Slade walked up to him and said, "So now you know the truth. Lucky for you, I'm not the one to say, 'I told you so.'"

Danny did not respond. He felt so hurt and betrayed that his throat felt constricted.

Slade went on, "Now that you know, and now that I've seen your skills in battle, I've decided that you are ready to begin."

Danny looked up. He managed to say, "Begin what?"

"Begin training…as my apprentice."

Danny looked shocked at hearing this as he got to his feet, "What? Why would I want to be your apprentice?"

"It's something I've searched for a while now, Danny. Twice I have found very worthy candidates, but it didn't quite work out. But you know what they say…three's the charm."

For a few seconds, Danny wore only a look of shock on his face. He shook it off and said, "In how many ways can I tell you that's not going to happen?"

"Think about it, young man. What else could you do? Nothing in your current life is in your favor. You know that. Your parents hunt you, as well as the black girl you have feeling for, your sister gets on your nerves, and you've just heard that your so-called-friends don't care for you. What's the point of remaining a hero with a life like yours?"

Danny said nothing. Slade was speaking nonsense, he knew it. But was he? The fact that Slade had told him every negative feature of his life seemed to make so much more sense than the positives.

"So…" Slade said, lowering his head, "What do you say?"

For a long minute, Danny said nothing. _I'm a hero, _he thought, _I can't be this madman's apprentice. And yet…why does it sound like he makes so much sense? Would I really be willing to throw away my noble deeds over the last several months to cross over to the side of darkness?_

"Well?" Slade stated, waiting for an answer.

Danny looked down at his boots, looking for an answer within his troubled mind.

Finally, he stared at Slade with a look of hatred and anger, and said in a cold voice that seemed to shake the entire building to rubble.

"I accept."

_**To Be Continued**_

_And that's it! The end of this fanfic! Bet a lot of you weren't expecting that, huh? In fooling Danny to believe that Sam and Tucker don't care about him, Slade has successfully gotten Danny to become his apprentice! Where does it go from here? Wait for the upcoming sequel, "A World he Never Knew"! Ta ta!_


End file.
